John C Ogden

University of South Florida | USF · Department of Integrative Biology

Caribbean Coastal Marine Productivity (CARICOMP) was a basin-wide cooperative, international network of marine laboratories established in 1985. Recognizing major trends of change in coastal ecosystems and the importance of the linkages among them, our goal was to monitor synoptically with standardized methods the physical environment and to docume...

In the fall of 1964, Stanford University’s R/V Te Vega Cruise 5 crossed the equatorial Indian Ocean from Mombasa to Singapore, one of many ships participating in the International Indian Ocean Expedition. The cruise achieved two goals: (1) it provided hands-on oceanography training for graduate students in marine sciences, and (2) it documented the...

With coral populations in decline globally, it is critical that we tease apart the relative impacts of ecological and physical perturbations on reef ecosystems to determine the most appropriate management actions. This study compared the trajectories of benthic assemblages from 1998 to 2011 in three no-take reserves and three sites open to fishing,...

The rapid decline of coastal ecosystems of the Wider Caribbean is entering its fifth decade. Some of the best science documenting this decline and its causes has been done by the laboratories of the Association of Marine Laboratories of the Caribbean (AMLC). Alarmed at the trends, Caribbean conservation pioneers established marine protected areas (...

The aim of the Geospatial Assessment of Marine Ecosystems (GAME) project is to develop an inventory of habitat-related data within the Gulf of Mexico and East coast of Florida. This will serve as a foundation to develop a spatial framework for ecosystem-based management associated with regulatory and planning programs and areas of governmental coor...

"Place-based management of marine ecosystems offers a constructive means for dealing with the uncertainties associated with complex, heterogenous, and dynamic systems." (p. 23) "Public and private actors are rising to the challenge of identifying places suitable for the application of the tools of place-based management of marine ecosystems." (p. 2...

Problems in ocean resource management derive from governance, not science. Ocean zoning would replace mismatched and fragmented approaches with integrated regulatory domains.

Conservation of U.S. coral reefs has been sidetracked by the partial implementation of management plans without clearly achievable goals. Historical ecology reveals global patterns of coral reef degradation that provide a framework for reversing reef decline with ecologically meaningful metrics for success. The authors of this Policy Forum urge act...

Diadema antillarum was once ubiquitous in the Caribbean, but mass mortality in 1983–84 reduced its numbers by >97%. We measured Diadema abundance on back reefs and patch reefs that have been well studied for >25years. From June 2000 to June 2001, populations on back reefs have increased >100% (June 2001 mean densities 0.004–0.368/m 2), while patch...

CARICOMP is a regional scientific program to study land-sea interaction processes in the Caribbean coastal zone. It has been collecting data since 1992, when a Data Management Centre was established at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. Initially it focuses on documenting the structure and productivity of major coastal communities (mangr...

The notion of the ocean as an inexhaustible resource is being exploded by the realities of overfishing, habitat destruction, coastal population growth, and ocean warming. Cooperation among nations, states, and organizations is essential to maintain marine diversity.

The coral reefs and associated ecosystems of Cayos Cochinos, Honduras were briefly surveyed in early May 1995. The north coasts of the larger islands are exposed to greater wave energy and the reefs, dropping steeply to sandy slopes at approximately 30m, were dominated by often massive colonies of the various forms of Montastraea annularis commonly...

The Florida Keys are a heavily managed land-sea reserve, preserved as a National Marine Sanctuary, but fishing and collecting are prohibited in only a small area. Ogden discusses the management of this Sanctuary and how new results on the sources of larvae for marine species in the Caribbean, presented by Roberts et al., will influence future plan...

Coral reef sites studied and photographed in the Gulf of San Blas on the Caribbean coast of Panama in 1970-71 were revisited in 1991. There was a dramatic decline in the most common foliose and branching corals and an increase in algal cover. Agaricia spp. which formed most of the patch reefs and lined the slopes of channels and deep bays were most...

The article" Catastrophes, phase shifts,and large-scale degradation of a Caribbean coral reef" by Terence P. Hughes (9 Sept., p.1547) relates the sad story of the decline of scleractinian coral populations in Jamaica over the past two decades. The article is a rare example of the long-term research needed to document trends on reefs; however, the m...

The SEAKEYS (Sustained Ecological Research Related to Management of the Florida Keys Seascape) program is a research framework which encompasses the large geographic scale and long time scale of natural marine processes and ecosystem variation upon which human impact is superimposed. The need for interdisciplinary long-term research in coastal ecos...

This chapter illustrates the importance of solar radiation as a major factor in the bleaching of corals when sea temperatures are elevated, as well as acting alone at normal temperature. It looks at the way temperature and solar radiation combine to elicit bleaching and examines the different roles that each may play in the bleaching process. The c...

The distribution, abundance and food of nine species of sea urchins along a 180-m transect on a leeward Hawaiian reef were studied in relation to algal distribution and habitat. Echinometra mathaei was dominant, comprising 50 to 98% of the urchin populations along the transect. Its peak average density was 70.3 urchins·m−2 at 120 m from shore on a...

The long-spined black sea urchin, Diadema antillarum, is one of the most common marine invertebrates in the South Florida and Caribbean regions. Diadema is gregarious and is found in large groups on hard bottom in shallow waters. Spawning is year-round, concentrated in late winter to early summer, and the larvae spend an unknown period in the plank...

Three dives were made using the DSRV Alvin in the deep-sea basin north of St. Croix, Virgin Islands. Detrital seagrasses and macrofaunal distributions at 2455 to 3950 m depth were assessed quantitatively. Counts of the manatee grass Syringodium filiforme (ca. 5 to 100 blades m−2) contrasted sharply with those of the turtle grass Thalassia testudinu...

Settlement occurred at all times of the year, but showed distinct maxima during May-June and October-November. Summer settlement rates were approx 1/3 the peak rates; winter settlement rates were low but always present. A dominant, semilunar periodicity in the settlement of the postlarvae was clearly present, but smaller interspersed weekly peaks o...

The nutritional ecology of macroherbivores in seagrass meadows and the roles of grazing by urchins, fishes and green turtles in tropical systems and waterfowl in temperate systems are discussed in this review. Only a few species of animals graze on living seagrasses, and apparently only a small portion of the energy and nutrients in seagrasses is u...

Juvenile French and white grunts, Haemulon flavolineatum (Desmarest) and H. plumieri (Lacé-pède), were captured during their daily migrations between diurnal resting sites on coral patch reefs and nocturnal feeding grounds in seagrass beds. Grunts captured during morning and evening migrations were released on the route and after displacement up to...

Coral reef fishes are in general rather sedentary and territoriality and home range behavior patterns are highly developed. However, many species migrate, often relatively long distances compared to body size and often with spectacular precision. Migrations in reef fishes may be associated with: 1) life history—movements of planktonic larval stages...

Competing models of community structure in assemblages of coral reef fishes have suggested that (1) these assemblages are structured by deterministic interactions between species, or between species and resources, or (2) the composition of these assemblages are determined by highly variable settlement from planktonic larvae. We examined interaction...

The diel foraging behavior of juvenile green turtles (Chelonia mydas L.) ≈ to 8 kg in size was studied by visual observations from a fixed point and by acoustical tracking of three tagged animals, two of which were followed for > 1 wk. Green turtles fed in a shallow seagrass-covered bay most commonly by day. There were usually two feeding bouts, on...

Stable carbon isotope analyses of more than 140 plant, animal, and sediment samples from the Miskito Banks, Nicaragua and St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, were used to assess carbon flow in Caribbean seagrass meadows and coral reefs. Plants at the base of food webs had widely divergent δ 13C values, ranging from −4.0 (Syringodium filiforme Kütz) to...

Two distinctly different but representative seagrass communities were studied in the vicinity of Koror, Palau, Western Caroline Islands from May 21 to June 25 1978. The first community, a 30 m wide band adjacent to a beach, consisted primarily of Halodule uninervis (Forsk.) Aschers. and Cymodocea rotundata Ehrenb. and Hempr. ex Aschers. near the sh...

Benthic vegetation patterns and sea urchin abundances, feeding and reproductive activities are described along a gradient from shallow lagoons to depths of 8 m. Shallow waters (1 m) are characterized by dense beds of Thalassia testudinum Banks ex König, a depauperate algal flora and moderate urchin densities. Siphonous green algae and seagrasses ty...

The foraging behavior of the bucktooth parrotfish Sparisoma radians was studied in seagrass beds off St. Croix, US Virgin Islands and in laboratory preference tests. Thalassia testudinum was the dominant item in the field diet with the epiphytized distal portion of the blades most favored. Other seagrasses, Syringodium filiforme and Halodule wright...

Three dives were made in the DSRV ALVIN to investigate the quantity and distribution of shallow-water sediments and biological debris in the 4500 m deep basin north of St. Croix, U .S .V .I. The percent of shallow-water derived sediments decreased from 93% to 7% in a downslope direction. Grass was distributed more evenly, with concentrations typica...

The fish assemblages of groups of large natural coral patch reefs in the tropical western Atlantic and Pacific oceans were censused visually during the summers of 1976 and 1978. Thirty-one reefs were in the northeastern Caribbean Sea (25 at St. Croix and 6 at Anegada) and 15 reefs were located at the southern end of Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands...

Behaviors that precede the daily migrations of mixed-species schools of juvenile grunts (Pomadasyidae), from patch reefs to grass beds at dusk and vice versa at dawn, are defined and utilized to ascertain the precision of the migrations. Although premigratory behaviors differ at dusk and dawn, the migrations are precise twilight events which occur...

A postgastric, fermentative breakdown of structural plant tissue was demonstrated for green turtles. About 90% cellulose was hydrolyzed. Bacterial and protozoan numbers compared with those of the rumen.

Herbivorous fishes and invertebrates are conspicious elements of coral reef communities where they predominate both in numbers and biomass. Herbivores and the coral reef algae on which they feed represent a co-evolved system of defense and counter-defense. Algal species have developed toxic, structural, spatial and temporal defense or escape mechan...

The agonistic behavior of the sea urchin Echinometra lucunter (L.) was studied in the algal ridge reefs of Boiler Bay, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, where it inhabits burrows in the reef surface. Sixty-four encounters were set up by placing an urchin (intruder) at the opening of an occupied burrow (host). In 46 cases, agonistic behavior between t...

Resting schools of juvenile grunts (less than 12 cm length), composed primarily of Haemulon flavolineatum and H. plumieri, were studied from 1972 to 1976 on a series of patch reefs surrounded by seagrass beds on the northeast coast of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Juvenile grunts form large inactive multispecies schools in reef areas by day. Repe...

Fishes, particularly parrotfishes (Scaridae) and surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae) and the regular sea urchins (Echinoidea) are abundant, conspicuous, and in some areas commercially important consumers of algae and seagrasses in the Caribbean. Diet—food availability studies show that herbivores generally take food in proportion to its abundance and avai...

Gobiosoma evelynae (Böhlke and Robins), G. prochilos (Böhlke and Robins), and juvenile Thalassoma bifasciatum (Bloch), long known to be ectoparasite-pickers, are differentiated in terms of their associations with the fishes they clean. The gobies are found to have very broad cleaning preferences, while the wrasse largely restricts its cleaning to n...

Between patch reefs and marine grass communities there is normally a zone or "halo" of heavily grazed grass 2 to 10 meters wide. Grazing by the echinoid Diadema antillarum Philippi during nocturnal migrations off the reefs is found to be the major factor in the formation of halos.

A detailed study of a territorial form of the striped parrotfish (Scarus croicensis) was done on the reefs surrounding Isla Pico Feo on the Caribbean coast of Panama. Territories were located in shallow water (less than 3 m), averaged 12 m^2 in size, and appeared to serve as feeding and occasionally spawning grounds. The dominant territorial fish w...

A total of 374 striped parrotfish (Scarus croicensis) were tagged from the reefs surroundihg Isla Pico Feo on the Caribbean coast of Panama. Many of these fish were followed individually in the field for up to 3 months. Three different behavioral categories were recognized: stationary, territorial, and foraging. Fish tend to aggregate in foraging g...

The US Virgin Islands (USVI ) in the northeastern Caribbean, consist of St. Croix (207 km2), St. Thomas (83 km2), St. John (52 km2) and numerous smaller islands (Dammann and Nellis 1992). They are part of the Lesser Antilles and Leeward Islands on the eastern boundary of the Caribbean plate (Fig. 8.1). An extensive platform underlies St. Thomas and...

American eels, Anguilla rostrata (LeSueur), were collected from 8 New Jersey streams. Three areas on the Big Flatbrook were selected for intensive examination. Eels comprised 37% of the total weight and 20% of the total number of the 25 species of fishes collected on the Flatbrook. The weight of eels was exceeded only by the white sucker (Catostomu...

The selection scheme employed a two-vial apparatus in which beetles (Tribolium castaneum (CS) and T. confusum (CF)) could move in one direction between vials. One inactive line and one active line were selected for five generations in both species. A second active line in which selection for activity was more intense was selected for three generati...